Ablaze
by Thief of Dreams
Summary: In the midst of their research of the rifts in their incomplete plane, a near-death experience for Aladdin and Judar causes a new power within them to awaken: their planeswalker sparks. They're saved by a mysterious stranger named Liliana Vess, but is she really there to help them, or could her interference in their world spell disaster for them?


TOD: I wrote this for a crossover event challenge on Magi Amino after recieving some positive feedback on the concept, so I decided to upload it here as well :D

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**Chapter 1**

Judar heaved a deep sigh as he drifted lazily through the impenetrable darkness of the Great Continental Rift. His active borg provided a faint but comforting source of light so that he could see himself, but all around him was nothing but pitch blackness. Sound and light were stifled so much in this place that he could hear the blood roaring in his hears. He lounged on his staff and pressed his palm to his chin, a disgruntled hiss escaping his lips.

It had been a few months since he'd been conscripted into doing this stupid research job with Aladdin and Alibaba's stupid trade company. And while it was a decent break in routine from the boredom of his seat as High Priest in the Kou Empire, the perks of the job didn't outweigh the fact that it was even more mind-numbing than performing ribbon-cuttings, funerals, and all the tedium and stuffy tradition that came with priesthood. He almost wished he were at ribbon-cutting ceremony right now, and he hated hearing himself think that.

His stomach rumbled. He growled and dug his shiny black shell-phone out of his scarf, dialing a number he loathed dialing. The signal indicator displayed in the corner of the holographic screen told him that there was just a sliver of strength left to it. He mentally channeled all of his spite into the antenna so that his call would reach his "colleague" on the surface.

The person on the other line's voice was faint and barely came through the static, but the call went through.

"What's up, Judar? Did you find something?"

"No."

"Then why are you calling?"

"When is lunch?"

"What?! I'm having a hard time hearing you, can you speak up?"

"WHEN IS LUNCH, YOU DAMN MIDGET?!"

"There's no need to get hostile. You want lunch already? We just started an hour ago."

"I don't care, I'm hungry! Why don't you float around in this stinking dark pit all day instead of making me do it all the time?"

"So you want to switch out? That's all you had to say. Come on up and take a break then."

Judar channeled a hefty amount of magoi into a teleportation circle and passed through the blinding light back to the surface, appearing on the precipice where Aladdin sat dangling his legs off the edge and looking annoyingly carefree. His eyes didn't get any time to adjust back to the daylight and they ached sharply, compounding his vexation.

He flopped down next to Aladdin and used his scarf to dab the sweat from his brow. Aladdin nudged him and offered him a water flask. He snatched it and gulped down the entirety of its contents.

Aladdin chuckled. "You still get tired out pretty quick, huh Judar? Haven't you done any strength training with Morge so you can increase your magoi? I have."

"Shut up, twerp."

"I'm just saying, if you'd let go of whatever stubborn impulse is keeping you from doing some strength training, your magic would get even stronger and you'd have more magoi. You'd be able to endure exploring the inside of the rift longer. Though you actually did a lot better this time. Yesterday you only lasted thirty minutes at a time."

"Dammit Aladdin, I said shut up! Your voice is making my headache worse."

Aladdin heaved a sigh and slouched. "We're not Magi anymore. That's something that no longer exists in our world. So we can't rely on the endless supply of magoi that was freely given to us from the rukh. You're a strong magician, Judar, and I'm not downplaying that. But you could stand to gain considerably from a bit of additional training."

"Tch! Don't you think I know all that?" Judar tossed the flask aside and lurched to his feet, trudging away from the rift with his staff on his shoulder.

"Hey, wait!" Aladdin called, "if you go too far away, our phone signals won't be able to reach each other. You're supposed to stand by in case I get into trouble down there."

_Wouldn't that be a relief. No more annoying twerp around to lecture me_, Judar thought. "Relax pipsqueak, I'm just going to the old man's place for some food. I'll be right back."

"But I brought some of Morge's breakfast quiche for us."

"Ugh...you can eat all that rubbery, burnt crap you want. I'm gonna have something that's actually edible. And maybe while I'm at it, I'll remind Alibaba to teach his woman how to cook. Toodles."

Judar disappeared into another teleportation circle.

Aladdin pursed his lips. "Wonder what's got him in such a mood," he mumbled as he plunged into the darkness for his shift of exploration.

*

Just as her "master" commanded, Liliana Vess had gathered the entirety of the Eternal Army at the ruins of his temple on Amonkhet. She sat poised on his comically large, so-called "God-Pharaoh" throne, surveying the massive ranks of gleaming blue lazotep coated undead. The army spanned out as far as the eye could see among the wreckage of the once great city of Naktamun. Even the five colossal forms of the living gods of this plane were now mindless, zombified slaves at her beck and call, their sapphire-like hardened skin gleaming in the red desert sun.

It was the largest and most powerful horde of undead she had ever been at the helm of. Had it been under any other circumstances, she would have been quite pleased with herself. Had it been by her design, she would have felt giddy with excitement. With the combination of the Eternal Army and the Chain Veil at her disposal, there was nearly nothing left in the Multiverse that could threaten her.

Except there was. And that one thing that could threaten her had her on a leash like a dog. This army was merely a toy that was being shared with a nasty terms of use agreement. And the Chain Veil, the toy that belonged to her, always came a hair's breadth away from killing her every time she used it. She lacked the understanding to wield it properly, which was just another bargaining chip on the pile for her "master."

She had never felt more humiliated and more powerless despite the immense power she was capable of displaying at this moment in time. And the wreckage of this plane that her "master" had already razed to the ground on a whim served as a baleful reminder that she was about to do the same thing to another unfortunate plane, simply because she had no other choice.

Think of the devil and he shall appear. With a warping tear in the shelf of sandstorm clouds, the dragon Nicol Bolas planeswalked in, perching on a crumbling pyramid.

"Preparations are complete," Bolas's bonerattling rumble of a voice spoke, "soon Tezzeret will be welcoming us into the Chamber of the Guildpact. Or what's left of it, rather."

Like her body was moving on its own, she stood and descended the steps from the throne, taking her place at the front of the army and awaiting further instruction. She found herself idly stroking the links of the Chain Veil at her waist, and with it came the chorus of whispers of the Onnake spirits.

_"YOU COULD DO IT NOW...YOU COULD KILL HIM NOW...WE CAN USE THE DREADHORDE...USE US!"_

And then there came the voice of the Raven Man that always seemed to follow. _"Don't be foolish, Liliana. Raising your hand against him now would be tantamount to suicide. Be patient. Learn what he has offered to teach you first."_

_Nine hells, why won't you all just be quiet and let me think!_ She hissed into her mind, digging her nails into her palm and gritting her teeth.

Bolas sniggered. "Honestly, Vess, I don't know how you get any sleep when your mind is so noisy."

Her eye twitched, but she dismissed Bolas's mockery. "I have questions."

"Hm. Depending on whether the line of questioning is to my liking or not, I may have answers."

"Why Ravnica? You've practically put yourself in power from the shadows there already. Why the theatrics of chaos and destruction? How many innocents will I need to massacre?"

Bolas snorted. "How uncharacteristically naive of you, Liliana. The countless morally bankrupt and self-serving decisions you've made throughout your gallivanting across the multiverse, and now you want the high road?"

"I might be a manipulative, back-stabbing bitch who likes to slay angels, but I'm generally not on board with things like genocide."

Bolas chortled. "Why Amonkhet? Why Zendikar? Why Mirrodin? Why Alara? Why any of the planes? Why, why, why? You humans ask that question like toddlers, and the answer is always so infuriatingly simple that even a toddler would understand. So why don't you tell me what you think the answer is yourself, Liliana?"

Liliana huffed and crossed her arms. "Ravnica is one of the most densely populated planes in the multiverse. You need a large scale disaster to draw out the Gatewatch and any of the other do-gooder, champion of the meek types."

"Heh...so you can use that measly lump of grey matter in your skull after all. There's a saying the mortals have that I'm rather fond of...to make an omelette, you crack a few eggs. Unfortunately for the mortals, my godhood is a rather large omelette and is going to require copious amounts of egg cracking. And while Ral Zarek thinks he's going to be turning the tables on me by calling on the planeswalkers with his little "project lightning-bug", it couldn't be a better fit for my designs. I need as many planeswalker sparks as I can harvest in order to cast the Elder Spell. Consider yourself lucky that you aren't among those eggs."

"So as long as I behave myself and do the egg cracking, you'll keep your word, right? You'll really teach me how to use the Chain Veil?"

"Have I not always kept my word to those who remain loyal?"

"Why don't you ask Tezerret."

Bolas snarled. "Loyal was the keyword there. Tezerret would've been Grixian beast food if not for me. Tezzeret owes his entire existence to me. If anything, I've been merciful to that treacherous worm."

"From what I understand, he wouldn't have been so treacherous if you hadn't double crossed him first."

"Ugh...so his ordeal with the Seekers of Carmot was a byproduct of of my meddling with Alara's Conflux. It wasn't personal, he chose to take it personally. Don't tell me you've suddenly developed sympathies for a fool like Tezzeret. I know you far better that."

"No. I just don't want to end up like him. No free will left."

Bolas sniggered. "Free will? How laughable. You gave that up in exchange for vainglory centuries ago, Liliana. All I require of you is a few minor tasks, as my ascension to godhood is all but assured at this point. And as a reward, you get to retain your youthful immortality, you're no longer required to ante up to your demonic contractors, and you'll gain mastery over the most powerful necromantic artifact in the multiverse, so long as you choose not to defy me. And of course should I require your assistance for anything else, I'll call upon you again. If you ask me, it's an attractive bargain."

"Historically, your bargains have come with some twisted terms hidden in the fine print. All I'm asking is that from now on, you keep things straightforward. If you can give me that, then I'll be at your heel for as long as you like. It's not as if I don't owe you."

"A saboteur requesting candor with another saboteur?" Bolas laughed. "Are you quite finished pestering me, or can I give Tezzeret his orders?"

"Just one more thing. What sort of god are you going to be?"

Bolas narrowed his eyes. "Elaborate."

"When you become this all-mighty ruler of the multiverse, then what? What will you do with the reigns? Will you be a merciful and nurturing god? Or will you be vengeful and wrathful?"

Bolas guffawed. "I suppose...I shall let the multiverse decide that for themselves. So long as every living being knows to prostrate themselves before me, and so long as I'm able to rid reality of the stain that is Ugin's continued existence, there shouldn't be much need for wrath and vengeance."

Liliana smirked. "I see...so really all this is just about you finally being able to surpass your brother."

Bolas drew his face close to her and snorted, his hot breath washing over her and making her skin tingle.

"Enough stalling, Liliana. We are invading Ravnica and destabilizing their power base, I will be devouring Jace Beleren's Living Guildpact power and crushing all your little Gatewatch friends along with him, and there is nothing you can do about any of it. Now ready the Dreadhorde and send them through the Planar Bridge once it opens."

Bolas stood upright and flared his wings, the golden gem between his horns emitting a blue glow, and then shortly afterwards the Planar Bridge tore a massive portal open in Amonkhet, the violent surge of energy reducing the temple ruins to mere rubble.

Liliana sighed deeply, but she raised her fist and gathered necromantic energy, her eyes and her rune tattoos etched into her skin gleaming with violet light. The energy spread through the army of Eternals like a wave, their eyes lighting up as they raised their heads. Then they began to file past her in a steady lock-step to pass through the Planar Bridge.

Once the army had departed completely, Nicol Bolas planeswalked away, and Liliana followed.

*

Judar was low on magoi and hadn't been able to make a jump as far as he would have liked. Yunan's house was still a long walk away.

Ever since the great conflict with David and the changes to their world, the continental rifts had changed as well. They were certainly no longer safe places to dwell in, as they had now become seemingly endless, pitch dark, abyssal voids with confusing physics. In response, Yunan had moved his house to the surface on the Dark Continent side, and with a little persuasion (Alibaba's puppy-dog eyes), he had altered it into a headquarters for the newly developed Dark Continent Research Division of the Alibaba Trade Company.

Judar trudged along the path through the fields where some of the strange vegetation of the Dark Continent were being cultivated as crops. Olba, Toto and their friends were busy conducting agricultural research and loading crates of food to be transported along the network of teleportation magic circles. They waved at him as he passed by, but he sneered. These fields did nothing but remind him of the grueling two year period he spent eating nothing but those weird, gross vegetables. Even as hungry as he was now, the mere thought of having to choke down another raw head of Romanesco Broccoli made him queasy.

He passed by the one-woman shipping department, Morgiana, as she was rifling through order checklists and rearranging crates of goods for the teleportation circle. She briefly cast him a sidelong glance, but otherwise said nothing. He thought about "complimenting" her cooking, but reminded himself that he was probably already in for an earful from her husband to begin with.

Yunan's house finally came into view just as he was beginning to feel like his feet were lead weights and his mouth was a Heliohaptan sand dune. He hobbled up the path and fumbled through the door. Yunan was seated on the sofa and poring over a lengthy scroll while enjoying a cup of tea. Judar suppressed a twinge of jealousy and a snide remark.

"Back so soon, Judar?"

"Zip it, old man. Water. And food...please."

"Sure thing. Some of those steamed dumplings you like?"

Judar nodded. Yunan retreated to his kitchen.

"Wait, is that Judar?! Perfect timing!" A grating voice called from upstairs.

Judar groaned and grabbed a hot towel and a peach from the fruit bowl on the conference table before he plopped down and kicked his feet up, bracing himself for the oncoming tirade from his "boss".

Alibaba came barreling down the stairs from his office with a heaping armful of scrolls and stacks of parchments, spilling them onto the table in front of Judar.

"This is all the paperwork you've been neglecting. Care to explain?"

"Maybe later. I'm low on magoi, which means I'm starving and I have an aggressive headache."

"Gee, maybe that could've been avoided if you'd eaten breakfast like the rest of us."

"Unlike you, I don't need to pretend to enjoy the sub-par cooking of your barbarian wifey. When are you gonna sign her up for a cooking class? Or at least let gramps here teach her a thing or two."

"He has! And she's gotten better--" Alibaba pinched his brow, "don't try to deflect, Judar! This is serious! Without the reports on our research, we could lose our funding from our backers! Aladdin fills out all his reports, so why aren't you?"

"Yeah, have you read those reports? They all say the exact same thing."

Judar grabbed one of the scrolls with Aladdin's signature and flung it open across the table. "Look what it says...unusual sights or occurrences? None. Abnormal or unexplainable phenomena? None. Anomalies in physical or spatial corporeality? None. Every question is basically the same, and every answer is the same. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. We've done the experiments requested in the reports too, and there's been nothing to document on either. There's absolutely nothing noteworthy about the continental rifts...they're just giant holes of pitch dark nothing, and nothing ever comes back out of them. So what's the point? Are the investors going to be pleased to see that we're wasting their time and resources by giving them reports full of nothing?"

Alibaba thumped his hands on the table. "That's not your call to make, and it's better than giving them nothing at all. The reports mean that we're at least trying, and we're not wasting their investment by not conducting any research. This is almost a month's worth of work that you're behind on! So since you're on another one of your self-approved breaks, why don't you do us all a favor and earn your keep."

Judar's eye twitched, and he bit off a hefty mouthful of peach to keep from flying off the handle. Yunan came over and set Judar's dumplings down on the table, and then excused himself away from the atmospheric intensity.

"Oh yeah that reminds me..." Alibaba continued, "your special requests for food and other living expenses are putting strain on our budget, so from now on they're going to be deducted from your salary."

Judar knocked his chair over as he sprang to his feet. "You know something?! I'm beginning to wonder why I ever agreed to this job when I've got a nice, cushy government position waiting for me back home."

Alibaba clenched his fists. "You told me you were bored to tears and you wanted something challenging! Now you're just gonna up and quit at the first instance of some difficulty?"

"Yeah, well that was before I knew you were just gonna make me float around in pitch darkness with the pipsqueak day in and day out! Don't act like I don't put in any effort, because I'm pretty close to losing my damn mind! It's almost as bad as being stuck with your Haniwa ass for two years!"

"I don't know what you were expecting, but this isn't like your job in Kou where you could get away with doing the bare minimum! We're all making sacrifices, we're all stressed out, and I personally am putting a lot at risk here! Not to mention how much danger Aladdin is in right now while you're sitting here eating dumplings!"

Judar dug out his shell phone and tossed it across the table at Alibaba. "He's just fine. Look for yourself. If anything was wrong, that thing would be going nuts."

By some cruel twist of fate, the phone started buzzing, flashing, and beeping.

"Dammit..." Judar growled.

Alibaba swiped the phone and answered it, pulling up the holographic display. "Aladdin?! Are you there?!"

There was only static on the screen and Aladdin's voice barely came through, but it sounded like he was shouting. "Ju...fou...omething! Nee...elp!"

The phone was buzzing non-stop in Alibaba's hand, which meant the magic tool that Aladdin and Judar were wearing to monitor their vital signs was going haywire. Alibaba switched the display over to check Aladdin's readings, and every one of the energy signatures were spiking out of control. "No way...!"

"Dammit!" Judar hissed. He grabbed his staff and stuffed a dumpling in his mouth before rushing out the door.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Alibaba called as he followed in hot pursuit.

Judar grabbed Alibaba by the scruff of the neck and hurtled the both of them through a hastily cast teleportation circle. They reappeared on the precipice of the Great Rift and skidded across the ground.

Judar snatched his phone back from Alibaba. "I'm going in. You stay here, and if we don't come out soon, call Yunan."

Alibaba tugged at Judar's scarf. "You come back. And you bring my best friend with you."

"Heh!" Judar batted Alibaba's hand away and then casually stepped backward over the edge. "Don't underestimate me, idiot!" he called as he plummeted into the darkness.

*

The invasion of Ravnica was in full force. At the heart of it all where the Chamber of the Guildpact once stood, Nicol Bolas had reconstructed the rubble into a monolithic citadel. A new temple to the "God-Emperor", where the Planar Bridge's energy whirled behind him like a menacing halo. He and Tezzeret were busy magically constructing a monumental statue in Bolas's likeness to communicate his status as the plane's new dictator to Ravnica's people.

As ordered, Liliana left the five God-Eternals at the base of Bolas's citadel to serve as his personal guards. She climbed atop a large pile of wreckage and then donned the Chain Veil upon her face. Instantly she felt the power of the Onnake dead surge through her, along with the searing pain that always flooded through her tattoos.

_"KILL! KILL! KILL!"_ Came the deafening chants of the Onakke spirits.

She howled and sent all the necromantic energy coursing throughout the Dreadhorde. She sent bird-like Avens to clash with the angels and griffins of the Boros Legion in the skies. She sent slithering Naga to prowl through the sewers. She sent hulking Minotaurs barreling at the elephant-like Loxodons. The overwhelming ranks of the Eternals tore through everything in their path as they charged across the bridge to the Transguild Promenade, where they began slaughtering every living being they came across in search of planeswalkers and their sparks.

Liliana removed the Chain Veil before it could take much more of a toll on her life-force. She allowed herself to recuperate momentarily, and then climbed down from her perch and summoned a detachment of Eternals to serve as her vanguard. She steadily made her way across the bridge.

As she meandered into the plaza, she met eyes with a terrified mother fleeing with her child in tow. The woman managed to bob and weave her way out of the path of the attacking Dreadhorde, only to run headlong into a mass of crumbling masonry. Time seemed to slow as she watched the woman fling her body over her child's as the both of them were crushed.

Liliana froze, a heavy pang of conflicting emotion welling up within her. She'd seen this sort of thing play out countless times. Death was her domain...her power. She had become so numb to it that she was almost comforted by it. But now, nothing felt as it should.

_Wrong...all wrong_.

There in the plaza, two planeswalkers had leapt into the fray and begun making their stand against the Eternal Army. One was Ral Zarek of the Izzet League, a storm mage who hurled white hot lightning at the undead and combusted their mineral-coated bodies. The other was Kaya of the Orzhov Syndicate, who faded in and out of corporeal form as she wished and dispatched the undead with daggers in vulnerable places, particularly the eyes. The both of them had previously been playing as pawns to Bolas, and were now sending the message that they no longer intended to do so. Liliana felt a twinge of envy worm in her gut.

_This picture is all wrong._

The Dreadhorde managed to claim the first of its planeswalker victims. A man she didn't recognize with a hand stained bright red. He almost looked like he was lost, and perhaps he was...an extra-planar visitor who happened to be in the wrong place at the most wrong of times. She watched an Eternal creep up behind him and rip his spark from his heart chakra. The Eternal drank in the essense of his spark, and then its skull erupted and sent the energy streaming upward to be collected by the "God-Emperor." The lifeless stranger crumpled to the ground.

_Wrong, wrong, wrong._

"NICOL BOLAS!"

A familiar voice cut through the chaos.

Gideon Jura had arrived to challenge Bolas, standing defiantly poised on the bridge with his broadsword raised at the dragon. Gideon, the nigh-invulnerable beefslab who never knew when to quit. Gideon, the only member of the Gatewatch who still put any faith in Liliana. Gideon, who supported her when she was so desperate to dispatch of her demonic contractors. Gideon, who she was about to helplessly watch have his life stolen, just like the man with the red hand that she didn't know the name of. No, not just watch...she was the one who was going to take it.

Nicol Bolas's smoldering eyes bore down upon her. She was no telepath, but she could feel his commands piercing their way into her mind. "Kill. Kill. Kill."

She raised her fistful of necromantic energy and set the Dreadhorde upon Gideon. He would put up a valiant effort as he always did, but sooner or later he would fall. The Eternals could fight forever, but he could not. His shielding aura would only hold up as long as he did. It was only a matter of time.

_WRONG, WRONG, WRONG._

Liliana's eyes were pulled back to the pile of rubble burying a mother and her child. And somehow in that moment, she was able to sort out those nagging feelings. It was the same way she felt when she had failed to save her brother. It was the same way she felt every time the Raven Man pulled at her strings and whispered in her ear. It was the same way she felt when she discovered that the Chain Veil had cursed her. It was the same way she felt when she was torn away from the only friends she'd ever had by Nicol Bolas.

She'd come so far, and yet she was still the helpless, pathetic little girl she thought she'd left on Dominaria.

She clenched her fist.

_Enough...I've had ENOUGH_!

She turned towards her dragon overlord, her fist blazing with purple light, her tattoos glimmering.

The Eternal Army halted, lifting their heads towards the dragon.

The Raven Man's whispers echoed in her mind. _"You've destroyed yourself, you fool."_

_ENOUGH!_

The Dreadhorde began to charge towards Nicol Bolas. Gideon got back to his feet, confused.

Nicol Bolas clenched his fist, his eyes smoldering with quiet fury.

Her tattoos began to burn. Not just the sensation of burning, but actual burning. Searing, agonizing fire. She howled with pain, but still she raised her hands against him.

The Dreadhorde was rushing past her with blinding speed, scrambling up the walls of the temple towards Bolas. The God-Eternals turned to face him.

The dragon let out a menacing roar.

She was burning alive from the inside. She screamed.

And then suddenly, the world became bright and blue, and intricate hermetic seals flooded across her vision. She was no longer moving on her own, and everything was going backwards. The burning pain came flooding out of her body. The Dreadhorde ran backwards away from the citadel and away from Gideon. The spark was given back to the man with the red hand. The falling rubble went back to its place. The mother and child ran back to where they came from.

And at the end of this backwards flow of time, she was back to the moment when she had arrived on Ravnica, and everything was frozen in place. Everything except for the hand of the dark-skinned man touching her shoulder.

Teferi. The time-mage of Dominaria.

"I can only give you this moment, Liliana Vess. The Gatewatch is waiting for you. Get as far from Nicol Bolas's grasp as you can."

Everything was frozen in place, including her, so she could not answer, but she could listen.

However, the form of Nicol Bolas was shuddering.

"He will break through my spell. When I release it, you leave."

_Why? Why me?_

She was no telepath, but somehow Teferi knew what she would say. He turned to her with a smirk on his face.

"I saw everything just now. You deserve a second chance. Now go."

The blue light and hermetic seals dissolved. Time restarted. Nicol Bolas bellowed.

She tore through reality, stepping out of Ravnica and into the Blind Eternities.

*

Judar plunged ever downward through the darkness, where light and sound could no longer reach. He'd already lost track of how long he had been free-falling. No borg...no levitation. Just a reckless dive into oblivion, because something told him it was what was needed to find Aladdin.

He felt oddly nostalgic. Last time he had this sensation, Aladdin had pushed him away. Now it was like he was being pulled.

He wished they had still been Magi. They would've been pulled right to each other, and this could've been over with in no time.

But now he only had unknowns and uncertainties, and he hated it.

_When I find you I'm gonna throttle you, ya little pest._

**Judar? Is that really you?**

_Huh? What the hell?! Where are you Aladdin?_

**I don't know...I fell into the stars.**

_What?!_

**You can hear me, and I can hear you. Did you fall into the stars, Judar?**

_The hell are you talking about?!_

**In this place...there's nothing but light, and color, and stars. I feel like I'm a star too. I'm burning and I'm so bright.**

_You're not making any sense!_

**Everything began here, in this place. But the rukh are leaving. They're going back, but I'm not. They can't be here.**

_WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!_

**Tell them not to leave, Judar. They're leaving, and I can't hold on. I'll disappear.**

_ALADDIN, WHERE ARE YOU?!_

A glimmering white rukh fluttered by him.

_ALADDIN?!_

More rukh appeared in the darkness. He reached out for them. Falling...falling...

And then he saw stars. A brilliant, coalescing nebula of stars.

He dove into the stars, and into blinding light.

**JUDAR?**

_ALLADIN?_

**I SEE YOU.**

All he could see was an endless field of stars and blinding, brilliant ripples of color and light. He couldn't tell if he was still falling, or which way was up and which way was down. Up felt like down and down felt like up. He felt like he was freezing and burning at the same time. There were shapes melding into formlessness and then back into shapes. Dark became light and light became dark.

**TAKE MY HAND.**

A formless, whispy light reached for his hand, and yet somehow he could still recognize the little bird shapes fluttering about in the whisps of light.

He reached out with his own black formlessness, the little black birds buzzing about. He tried to touch the forms and the little birds together, but he couldn't feel anything anymore, and yet he felt everything all at once. Every molecule that was him was trying to spread apart and crush together at the same time.

**SOLOMON'S WISDOM!**

There came a flash of the eight-pointed star, and then they had forms again and were grabbing onto each other's hands as hard as they could.

There were dazzling comets ablaze within their chests.

_ALADDIN! ARE WE GONNA DIE?!_

**NO! JUST HOLD ON! DON'T LET GO!**

*

Liliana drifted aimlessly through the Blind Eternities.

She was told to find the Gatewatch, but something in her gut told her that it just wasn't right yet. She couldn't go back to them.

But Teferi had said they were waiting for her. How could that be? She'd shredded whatever remained of their trust in her.

Perhaps the best place for her now was here, in the edge of reality. In the world between worlds. Here she could return to her elementary being, with no one to misplace their faith in her, and no one to reign over her destiny. Here she could truly become something greater.

Get as far away from Nicol Bolas's grasp as possible, Teferi had said. Nicol Bolas couldn't grasp what wasn't there.

_"Coward."_

_What? Nine Hells! Even in the Blind Eternities, your voice irritates me?!_

The Raven Man laughed.

_Fine then. I'll find somewhere to go. Somewhere no one else has been. Somewhere no one knows me._

She began hurtling herself through the Aether, fueled by sheer spite. She passed by plane after plane after plane until she felt as though she had reached the event horizon of eternity itself.

And then there were a pair of brilliant, newborn sparks drifting within the Aether. Clinging to each other and barely hanging onto their individuality.

_Ugh...newbies._

She reached out and grasped hold of them, mentally calling out to their home plane.

She found the spacial opening and slipped through, emerging onto a cliffside above a massive canyon that seemed to have no bottom to it. The young men with long hair in her grasp crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Amateurs." She muttered.

She heard the sound of a blade being drawn, and she turned to see a young man with golden hair and eyes, and a young woman with bright red hair. Golden boy had a knife pointed at her, and red-haired girl looked ready to brawl.

"Who are you? And what have you done with my friends?" Golden boy said.


End file.
